Woodland Valley Ranch Property Owners Association

ANNOUNCEMENTS & RANCH NEWS

WVR BoD President 

4-13-2023

The Woodland Valley Ranch Property Owners Association, LLC Board of Directors (WVR BoD) recently received a partial payment of insurance claim proceeds due from our claim against Tucson Realty & Trust (TRT) for embezzlement of POA funds.  No final accounting of total damages owed to us has been prepared - and the WVR POA still retains all rights to pursue all damages owed, up to and including litigation (if warranted).  

The funds received as part of our claim are not a projection; they are a confirmed deposit into our operating account. The WVR BoD is now in a position to pay past road contractor debts, contract for new road repairs, resume road maintenance/grading, and maintain reserve funds to prepare for the 2023 monsoon season. The collection of funds owed by TRT and/or their insurer is not complete  - and there is more work the WVR BoD has to do to bring about a final settlement/resolution - but this is a positive step in getting back on track to firm financial standing. 

Current road maintenance repairs proposed or scheduled:

1.Main Street cattle guard clean out (complete)

2.Repair Easy Street culverts to prevent further damage (in work)

3.Rincon Valley Road cattle guard clean out

4.Quarterly grading (Road conditions/moisture permitting)

Thank you

The Woodland Valley Ranch Property Owners Association, LLC

Board of Directors

Feb 23rd, 2023 Information

Goals & Path forward

The Woodland Valley Ranch Board of Directors (WVR BOD) is working on your behalf to resolve the current situation we all find ourselves in.

Our primary goals:

1. 2023 revenue through member assessments/dues.

2. Transition to Sentry Management Company(MGMT Co)

3. Payments of outstanding, current, and future bills incurred.

4. Set aside funds for 2023 monsoon season.

5. 2024 revenue through easements/dues.

Secondary Goals:

1. Insurance claim with the WVR POA insurance carrier.

2. Insurance claim with our former management companies insurance carrier.

3. Follow through on Law Enforcement (LE) action to recover our funds from our former management company.

4. Work with and support State & Federal entities in recovering our funds and holding those accountable who are responsible.

Our primary goals are currently the only path forward we have control of to resolve the financial issues we face in a reasonable amount of time. The secondary goals all involve outside entities that are sympathetic to our needs but move at their own pace with their own methods of conducting business. It could be many months before we see recovery of our funds through those paths.

Facts & Innuendo

There is currently no “Gag Order” in effect. WVR BOD has been advised to limit the information we release so as not to compromise any investigation, claim, or potential settlement with our former management company. This is not a gag order, but a common sense approach when dealing with a complicated and sensitive situation such as this. Federal Law Enforcement has been involved in this case for over two months and there is an ongoing federal investigation being conducted. The WVR BOD counsel, LE, or state agencies are not going to respond or ask us the WVR BOD to respond to 900+ owners, nor deliver every bit of information available until such time as it would no longer interfere with any investigation.

Raising the 2023 assessment to $240 was the right thing for the to do the WVR BOD on behalf of all the 900+ WVR Property Owners in the Association (WVR POA). Faced with the current situation, raising the dues is in our best interest even though it seems unfair that we have to dig ourselves out of a mess not of our creation. We are all victims of theft. This choice was us helping ourselves.

There was no February BOD meeting held because there were no agenda items for the BOD to vote or act on at this time. The regular meetings of the past were always meetings for the board to vote or take action, not meetings to deliver information to or discuss items with the WVR POA members. Currently the WVR BOD is working to assemble and disseminate documents that the WVR POA members are entitled to. However; with the deluge of information we have to be diligent in what is contained within those documents.

There is currently a lot of myth and innuendo on social media. This BOD is not going to go on social media and answer every question, refute every unfounded accusation, or have running discussions with potentially over 900+ members. That is just not realistic or achievable to give personal attention to each and every one of you. You all deserve the answers and personal attention, but the BOD under the current conditions does not have the capacity to fulfill that. To that end we will answer some things that are not answered above:

1. Based on the current information we have, the theft of funds goes back at least 8 years and potentially further. There is no evidence that we are aware of that would implicate any current or former WVR director(s) in the embezzlement of any funds.

2. There has been no corruption on this WVR BOD or recent past that any of us are aware of. If you have evidence of this, please bring it to us or your attorney of choice.

3. If you call or email any director and pronounce that you intend to engage an attorney or sue us as individuals, we will take you at your word and henceforth refer any communication to counsel until such time as the issue is resolved.

4. The WVR road plan has always been an annual grade, 3 quarterly gradings, and repairs/maintenance as necessary due to weather conditions.      

5. The WVR BOD has always been a board of members who own property and are just as interested in preserving their living and visiting conditions as much as yours.

6. The assessment/dues are not being raised to $500. The maximum increased allowed by the Arizona Revised Statutes is 20% per year. $200x20% = $240.

7. The most recent document sent out by MGMT had a misprint on the back side. We have been credited for this and are working to resolve the improper communication.

8. The amount of the theft of funds has been a moving target. There is currently an audit being conducted under one of the insurance claims.

9. As of 22 Feb, 2023 it has been 3.5 months since the discovery of the theft. This whole fiasco is going to take time to recover from and this BOD has spent countless hours working the issues, answering phone calls, meetings with counsel, emails, and other related activities. We have researched prior HOA/POA embezzlement cases and the consensus seems to be that it can take 1 - 2 years (from the date an embezzlement is discovered) before the case is fully resolved.  We want resolution as much as anyone, but it will take time. Patience has been asked of many of you and we will all have to have more of that.

Jan 26th, 2023 Information

This is an unprecedented series of events. This BOD has a basic plan(s) and is adjusting as we have gained insight and knowledge. We have had multiple interactions with our attorney, Sentry MGMT, and other outside entities in addition to trying to keep the WVR membership informed.
Here are some facts as they are today Jan 26th, 2023. These are subject to change as we learn new information.
Fact: In accordance with the Covenants, Conditions, & Restrictions as filed when Woodland Valley Ranch was developed, there is created the Woodland Valley Ranch Property Owners Association (WVR POA).
Fact: The WVR POA is a non-profit corporation in accordance with the Arizona Revised Statutes (A.R.S.).
Fact: The Bylaws of the WVR POA and the A.R.S. Require a Board of Directors and Officers of the corporation.
Fact: The BOD and Officers of the WVR POA have a fiduciary duty as a corporation to all members of the association.
Fact: The WVR POA, the BOD, and all members of the POA were victims of theft.
Fact: After the theft was discovered & confirmed the WVR POA BOD immediately fired Tucson Realty & Trust (TRT) as our Management company.
Fact: The theft was reported to law enforcement.
Fact: The WVR POA BOD immediately began a search for a new management company and after exhaustive due diligence, selected Sentry Management.
Fact: During the management company transition, TRT was less than cooperative. The accounts, documents, & data provided by TRT for the transition were in a format that could not be uploaded into Sentry MGMT systems. All owner accounts have had to be rebuilt, transcribed, and uploaded into Sentry’s system manually.
Fact: The WVR POA BOD has been working exhaustively with our attorney to recover stolen funds via negotiations, insurance claims, & other settlement options.
Fact: The WVR POA BOD has no control over any outside entities or their pace of processing law enforcement action, negotiations, insurance claims, & other settlement options.
Fact: There is information related to the investigations, negotiations, insurance claims, & other settlement options that is considered “privileged” or “sensitive" information.
Fact: The immense amount of information and its relation to any investigations, negotiations, insurance claims, & other settlement options is of the utmost importance and will not be divulged in an inappropriate manner.
Fact: The WVR POA is in extreme financial distress.
Fact: The only revenue the WVR POA can count on at this time is WVR POA member assessments/dues.
Fact: The WVR POA currently has outstanding debts to our Road Contractor, Attorney & Sentry MGMT.
The website for WVR was updated Dec 21st, 2022 as well as a posting on facebook the same day that there would be a letter mailed introducing Sentry MGMT as our new management company at the end of December and that dues notices would be going out around end of January to beginning of February. At the same time I also indicated that an owner portal for making payments would go live soon after that. That timeline is still being followed. If you are having problems please email the BOD wvrboard@woodlandvalleyranchaz.com or see the contacts and information for Sentry MGMT listed below.
The current Woodland Valley Ranch Board of Directors voted at an emergency meeting in December to raise dues 20%, the maximum allowed by and in accordance with the Arizona Revised Statutes. This was done with the advice & consent of our attorney. In consideration of our outstanding debts, future debts, and long timeframes for recovering any stolen funds, this is the only prudent course of action that benefits the entire Woodland Valley Ranch at this time. Once we are back on stable ground financially we will absolutely revisit a reduction of dues.
This BOD is working diligently to resolve this issue and to put in new practices to prevent such an occurrence in the future. There are many lessons learned from this event and this BOD will be implementing new standards for ourselves and the membership. Everyone of you deserves information, transparency & the truth. However; it is just not possible for this Board of Directors to answer each individual question or provide the satisfactory answers for everyone on a personal level. The only way to deliver information to the entire membership is via mail, and that takes time and money in this day and age of on demand social media. In the interim we are fielding emails, phone calls, and interactions here on social media. But at certain points we, the volunteer members on the Board of Directors, must prioritize and maximize our time. We have a long way to go and the only way out is time and patience. There are no quick fixes for this.
If you believe your mailing address or any other contact information you had with the prior management company was incorrect please email/write to Sentry Management and provide them with as much of the following information as possible:

phoenix@sentrymgt.com
or
Sentry Management
ATTN: Twila Rothra
4605 East Elwood Street, Suite 100
Phoenix, AZ 85040

December 21st, 2022

Each WVR Owner should be receiving this week a letter of introduction from Sentry Management.

Please read these letters carefully and if you have any questions their contact